SS Pin Longevity??

[Bzcraig]

Recently noticed my brass isn't cleaning up as well as it used to and I have changed nothing in my procedure. I've been using the same pins for at least 2 years but in my miniaturized mind I thought the pins would continue to work until they turned to dust. Anyone have experience with this?

[Nueces]

I had that problem once or twice. Solved by washing the pins (only) in something like a Simple Green solution, then several warm water rinses. My used pins are beautiful - shiny, smooth ends, no more SS dust in the solution.

[lightman]

They should last about forever. You will loose them before you wear them out. I'll 2nd the idea of cleaning them. Tumble them in some Dawn without any brass or wax.

[Drew P]

Mine lasted about a year. Case lube contaminated mine once or twice. So I quit using them and haven't looked back. Why do people get so concerned about how shiny the inside of their cases are?

[Iron Whittler]

The pins will last a very long time. The problem you are describing is indication of usual buildup of contamination. Not only the pins, but the inside of your tumbler as well. a good cleaning is in order. Use warm water and a cleaner such as simple green. Run your tumbler with the pins and cleaning solution for about 1 - 2 hours. rinse thoroughly with hot water. pour your pins on a towel and rub them dry. Wipe inside of your tumbler dry as well. This should clear up your problem. The build up comes from oil or case lube on cases. I have found that rinsing your cases in acetone before tumbling will extend the number of tumbling's before cleaning is needed. The acetone can be reused several times before it becomes unusable. Hope this helps. It did for me. A little extra work but the results are worth it to me.

[kayala]

As lightman said you can't wear out SS pins with brass. Regarding contamination - I'm using mine for over 5 years didn't see any difference. I do hose them briefly after separating.

[Bayou52]

Assuming you only have one lifetime, you'll never wear out those pins...

Suggest you make sure they are well rinsed after each tumble caring to remove all vestiges of old soap and water.

Bayou52

[Bzcraig]

It must just be crud residue from the cleaning process as I PC exclusively so it's not a boolit lube thing. After each tumbling cycle I pour the pins into the foot of a cut off pair of womans panty hose, give them a good rinse in cold water them tie them to the neck of the faucet to drip dry before pouring back into the tumbler. Never even considered the tumbler itself or the pins would still get contaminated but it makes sense. Thanks guys.

[Eddie17]

Going along with the above. My fix is to add extra soap/wax an extra Lemi shine.
Maybe every 10 batches. I don't count but when a batch comes out not clean,then add an redo with extra soaps and problem corrected! I foresee losing the pins before they wear out! IMHO.
I am at over 50,000 cases processed with my Franklin ss wet tumbler.

[Bills Shed]

Yep build up of crud, especially case lube. I swage jackets and use lanolin for the process. If the majority is not removed prior to tumbling I can get some really ugly crud stuck to the pins and inside of the tumbler. As stated above an extra clean of the pins themselves and a good rinse and give the liner of the tumbler a scrub.

Bill

[Carrier]

I really don't understand how one could wear out stainless steel pins. I've cleaned a lot of brass in my homemade tumbler which is made of abs pipe. Some of the range brass has been really bad and I didn't think it would clean up but looked like new. Like others I cleaned my 10 lbs of pins and tumbler with Simple Green once.

[MyFlatline]

Going on 4 years with the same pins, have never washed them or the tumbler. Matter a fact, they stay wet all the time in the tumbler. Guess I must be lucky.

[Nueces]

I think water quality has much to do with this sort of crud problem. I use softened well water for household 'industrial' use, but it's too nasty even for ice cubes. A reverse osmosis system is needed to make drinking water, or something good enough to add to a single malt. Some municipal supplies provide really good quality aqua.

[Carrier]

We have really good water where I'm at. The reason I cleaned my pins was that's what people were saying you had to do and I didn't know dick about it. I just took a look at them and my tumbler and all good. I also just leave pins in the tumbler and they are wet all the time.

[greenjoytj]

Add a shot of Hornady One Shot ultra sonic cleaner (at 40:1 water:cleaner) into the tumbler to re-enforce the cleaning action. The cases will need less time in the tumbler and come out cleaner shiner outside and inside and the pins too.

I have a squat 3 gallon bucket that I've punch a series of holes 1/2 way around & 4" below the rim. Inn the laundry tube, I set the case/pin separator sieve onto the bucket mouthdump the tumbler into the sieve, run water from the short hose to flush the pins out of the cases and down the sieve. Pins fall to the bottom of the bucket and dirty water flows out the side holes in the bucket. Wet cases are dried in on the rack in the cloths dryer. Pins get drained spread on a baking sheet that has 1/2" side walls and dried on the rack in the clothes dryer. RCBS tumbler gets stored empty and open to dry. Pins dried and stored in a plastic jar.